Mission: Impossible-III

Specializing in absurd bravado. Arguably, no one but Tom Cruise could pull off the combination of cheeky fun and audacious action that is the hallmark of the M:I series. This is highly professional blockbuster moviemaking, and regardless of who the director is—de Palma, or Woo, or in this case J.J. Abrams—the credit for the quality of this franchise must largely go to Cruise (who is both star and above the title producer throughout this series). It’s almost impossible not to enjoy these flicks, even considering their sometimes silly story lines or out of left field plot points or even an almost total lack of continuity between episodes (Ving Rhames is about the only commonality in the series besides Cruise himself). This is all about the spectacle, and Tom and his team never fail to deliver the goods, whether it’s jaw-dropping stunt work or moments of laugh out loud humor mixed into the mayhem. Don’t make the mistake I originally did in dismissing these films as lowest common denominator multiplex fodder; this is really the state of the art in movie-for-the-masses filmmaking. Accept the mission and give this and the rest of the series a look.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

It succeeds despite itself. How? Largely based on the tremendous skill of the principal actors, who turn in terrific performances and make you care ultimately about people who are, frankly, not particularly likable on the face of it. This film is clearly meant to be a showcase for Cate Blanchett, and she's good, but without sterling work from Billy Crudup (a vastly underrated actor) and young Emma Nelson--who really binds the whole work together with her marvelous, heartfelt, spot-on performance--you would just have a star turn for an actress presenting a profoundly antiheroical lead character. The ensemble work overcomes the relative mundanity of the slightly-elevated suburban-angst plotline. Thanks to those efforts, when the payoff comes the viewer feels that all that came before it, including the audience's own dubious feelings about the matter, was worth the effort. Good enough.

Alien: Covenant

Everybody dies, except for the female lead, and maybe one other character. That's not giving anything away; movies in this franchise stick so tightly to that template that everyone knows going in that that's exactly what's going to happen. It's just a question of how we get there. For the most part, that stock and trade story has worked well, with minor variations, through (by my count) five previous films. But it leaves you wondering, at this point is this trip really necessary? Does the viewer actually get anything out of watching this mimeograph of a movie. Well, this installment does continue and tie up the story from the previous film (while leaving its own loose ends, of course). And it looks fine; art direction has always been a strength of this series. There's also a semi-new storyline wrinkle that echoes warnings about AI development, but it's debatable whether that's more significant than the original thesis that the universe can be a damn nasty place in its own right, without anyone giving it a push. The movie merits more than a HISS, because after all it is a well-done piece of sci-fi horror--but that doesn't mean it's really worthwhile.

Almost Famous

It isn't especially deep or important, but it is an awful lot of fun (especially the music). Don't overthink it, just watch it.